Rhubarb, Cherries, Dry Chicken and a Slightly Frozen Gamble
Jeff
7/7/20264 min read
Ahhh...Tuesday. Soup Club day. Everybody's favorite day of the week. And this week? It's my turn.
This one has been a long time coming. First, because my last official offering was all the way back in April with the Mole Soup. Second, because today's soup has been living in my head since December…Back then I was absolutely determined to make a rhubarb and strawberry soup. Unfortunately, Mother Nature informed me that rhubarb does not exist in Michigan during the winter. Apparently that's a rule.
Then came another obstacle…It's no longer rhubarb and strawberry. It's now rhubarb and cherry because our newest member Nathan could potentially die if he eats strawberries. We like Nathan, so we pivoted.
This build actually started three weeks ago in Ludington. Rhubarb was everywhere at the farmers market, cherries were looking good, and I figured this was finally my moment and soup happened. Shout out to Surgeon Jenn for pitting 1,000 cherries with a scalpel. I made a batch, sampled it, made a few tweaks, then froze the whole thing specifically for today's meeting. Now that I'm typing this, it feels a little weird admitting I'm serving frozen soup to Soup Club…too late now.
The goal with this one was pretty simple. A little tart. A little sweet. Just enough heat to keep things interesting...but not so much that Habanero Harman starts feeling replaced. We know our roles around here.
For the topper, I came up with a fresh cherry inspired salsa that I think pairs perfectly with the soup.
And then...I completely ignored the "eat healthy" part of our Soup Club tagline. Instead of bread, I decided everyone gets an after-soup dessert: a dark chocolate-covered cherry from Kilwin's in Ludington. Healthy? Probably not. Worth it? Absolutely.
Not sure why I care so much, but I pulled a last-minute audible last night and grilled up some chicken for a Bottomer™. Apparently I want another Felton 10.0. Do I care? Yep.
So the stage is set. Unfortunately, just like last week, our sales department continues to struggle with one of life's greatest mysteries...using a calendar. Last week Nathan accidentally scheduled Soup Club against his own meeting because of a time zone issue.
This week we proactively moved Soup Club to 11:30am to avoid scheduling conflicts. Naturally...Adam now has a meeting at 11:30am. None of this makes sense anymore.
At least this time I came prepared…After last week's near soup shortage, I made well over the newly established minimum of 240 ounces. Nobody is leaving hungry today…Unless this soup completely bombs!
We also have a commitment from Hunter, aka Robert (Rho-Bear), to wear the white gloves and ladle the soup with an accent – I thought it was going to be Australian, like “G’day mate”, but he was talking about a French accent, like “Bonjour!” – I'm just happy he's finally embracing the role. Expectations are sky high.
Soup Club Feedback:
Kevin: I peeked in and saw his soup bowl ready to go around 9:30am… Kevin gets more excited for my soup than I do! 9.2 without hot sauce and 9.7 with hot sauce – thanks dude!
Tam: Called the soup phenomenal and casually dropped a perfect 10.0. Whoa!
Conlan: All of the “feedback” still swirling around the 6.5. Or was it a “solid 6.5” I don’t know.
Marketing Mike: Not present two meetings in a row. Next meeting is July 28th buddy – we miss you!
Josephine: Thought the chicken was a little dry and said the soup leaned more toward chili than soup. Added some salt...and then handed me a 9.0. I'll absolutely take that!
Nathan: I had the camera ready, fully expecting another heartfelt childhood story about his mom, grandma, cherries, or something that would bring the room to tears. Nope. Just a quick comment about the chicken being dry...and a 7.0. Hmm...
Adam: First things first...Adam absolutely loved the dark chocolate-covered cherry. Mission accomplished. As for the soup, he has one of the best poker faces in Soup Club. I was already convinced the "dry chicken" comments had doomed me. Then he starts talking about creativity and drops a 9.75. You da man!
Andy: Officially still "on break." However, I quietly slid him Marketing Mike's bowl. Soup scored an 8.0. Chocolate-covered cherry scored a 10.0. We'll call that a very scientific 9.0 average.
Soup Club Average: 8.71
Campbell's Crew™ Feedback:
Hunter: We promoted Hunter into the Soup Club room because of his elite ladling abilities. After all, what if someone wanted seconds? His score still belongs with Campbell's Crew, though. Hunter went on one of his classic philosophical rambles..."I'm a simple man..." blah blah blah...10.0! Darn it...I should've counting this in the SC score!
Marco: 9.0 before the chocolate covered cherry, 9.0 after – that’s not how the cherry was supposed to work…and then I got this: With the cherry palate cleanser? 9.5 easy, adding the depth and complexity of a second course will knock anything up a half a point or so. An explosion of sweet and tart cherry with every bite was like experiencing the fourth of July fireworks all over again. This made my day Conlan!
Chris: Fired off a rock-solid 8.0 without even thinking about it.
Nick: For someone who usually avoids spicy food, he actually thought it could've used a little more heat. Final score: 8.5.
Barry: After making Hunter serve with a French accept, which was hillarous, said “good soup Jeff, thanks” I’ve learned not to ask for a score, so I read into that as a 9.0. Thanks!
Felton: The ultimate kick in the crotch. I grilled the chicken almost entirely because I wanted the elusive Felton score. The Soup Clubbers annihilated every last piece of chicken...then Felton left before lunch and never got any soup. No soup. No chicken. No score. Heartbreaking.
Campbell's Crew™ Average: 9.0
Yes, the soup name is a Mellencamp reference.
That's it from me for a while. Next week will consist of nine days will be spent fishing, not souping. After that, several of us will be down in Orlando watching a new Collection King get crowned.
Which means our next official Soup Club meeting won't be until July 28, when Kevin steps back into the kitchen. My email this morning was blown up from Habanero Harman himself saying he’d be at Soup Club for Kevin’s soup – No pressure there Kevin!
